alliantgroup and CEO Dhaval Jadav Sponsor National Robotics League National Championship and Innovation Award

HOUSTON, May 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — alliantgroup is proud to announce its sponsorship of the National Robotics League (NRL) national competition and of the NRL Innovation Award for the upcoming school year. The firm’s sponsorship of both the competition and the new award program is the latest in a long line of ongoing initiatives related to promoting primary and secondary STEM education.

Statistics show that the U.S. is currently suffering from a major shortage of technical, STEM-based talent entering the workforce. If this trend continues, it will have dire consequences for the U.S., affecting everything from worker productivity and wages to American competitiveness and economic growth. As such, alliantgroup has made the promotion of STEM education the primary focus of its corporate philanthropy initiatives, with the firm sponsoring various endeavors designed to spark interest in STEM at an earlier age and to encourage students to pursue secondary STEM degrees and ultimately a career in STEM.

“The technical skills gap is one of the greatest challenges facing our nation,” said alliantgroup CEO Dhaval Jadav. “As we move toward a more technology and information-based economy, professionals with a strong STEM skillset will become more vital than ever to employers. As such, our firm will always remain dedicated to supporting programs such as the NRL that are committed to spreading the message on the importance of STEM.”

The NRL recently held its annual national robotics competition from May 18th to the 19th at California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA. The NRL, a program of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA), provides a national structure for educational robotics where students design and build remote controlled robots to face off in a gladiator-style competition. Registered teams have competed in NRL sanctioned regionals to prepare for the national event. More than 600 students from seven different states and Puerto Rico participated in this year’s competition.

NTMA and manufacturers across the country support the competition as it helps cultivate the STEM skills used in modern-day manufacturing facilities, exposes students to careers they may have never considered and communicates the high-tech nature of today’s manufacturing. The NRL is the only combat robotics league that formalizes ties with middle to post-secondary school teams, teachers and manufacturing partners, introducing them to real-world manufacturing experiences. This exposure to the manufacturing process captures students’ imaginations as they work for months in teams to create their robot. The hands-on STEM applications support emphasis on those skills in education today.

“I truly believe STEM education is the key to a brighter economic future,” said Jadav. “Considering economic trends and the disruptive effects of technology, fostering STEM education is the only path forward to ensuring higher wages and upward economic mobility while creating the kind of workforce that will keep America competitive in the 21st century.”

In addition to alliantgroup’s sponsorship of the NRL competition, the firm is also launching the NRL Innovation Award for the 2018 to 2019 school year. Going hand-in-hand with the NRL national and local competitions, the award will recognize student teams from across the country that have researched and developed new and creative ways to design and build their robots. alliantgroup and NTMA will issue the award and a $500 grant to the winning schools at each regional and national competition, with the final winner of the national award being determined by the NTMA Technology Committee and presented at the National Competition.

alliantgroup’s mission is one of education and awareness — we exist to help industry organizations, businesses and the accounting firms that advise them take full advantage of all federal and state tax credits, incentives and deductions available. These powerful incentive programs are legislated by the government to help businesses grow and remain competitive locally as well as abroad. We are proud to have helped over 12,000 businesses claim more than $6 billion in tax incentives. alliantgroup’s international headquarters is in Houston, Texas, with offices across the country and internationally including New York, Boston, Chicago, Orange County, Sacramento, Indianapolis, Washington, D.C and London and Bristol in the U.K. For more information on alliantgroup, please follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.